Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - Hardwood refinish

Howdy. I am by no means a hardwood person. BUT, I need to get an idea of a few things before I decide on the office flooring. The room is 13x13 so 169 sq ft. It has hardwoods that need to be stripped and sanded (a few scratches in the wood) and redone. Can someone answer the following questions:

1) How much to have someone come in (Outside Mid Massachusetts) and strip, sand, stain, protect the floors to a nice deep shine? I understand it will be an approx.

2) What are the main step, equipment, tools to do this myself? (money is tight - baby on way - wife on leave soon) I have the patience and lower back strength for the job.

3) If I do it myself, any tips, suggestions on materials, ways to save cash BUT still do a nice job?

Thanks all. This board has helped save mad money by doing things myself plus the pride of friends/family seeing my work and commenting on the quality. I always try to help in other matters on this board too. Peace: e3 - spamman

Costs of materials and labor tend to vary from area to area, so it would be difficult to hazard a guess for the cost of refinishing wood floors in your area.

If you desire to DIY, then you can go to the Bible on finishing wood floors at www.finishingwoodfloors.com

Thanks again Twelvepole. Looks like I need to figure out the ceiling texture/sheetrock issue first and have everything painted prior to starting. Alos, it looks like the renting of a drum sander for a day may be WELL worth it to avoid the backpain. It does not look to technical but rather take the time to do it slowly and carefully.

No guesses on how much per sq ft pros charge? Peace: e3

I don't have a clue as to what folks may charge to refinish in your area. You might want to call and have at least 3 people give you some bids. Make sure you get references and go see some of their work. Because this is a very small job, they will probably pad in some charges for trip time. Most guys want to go for the big jobs, like whole houses. If you do find someone to take the job, once you get the bid you may decide that to save $$ you will want to do it yourself.

If you DIY, it will be a rewarding experience. The info at www.finishingwoodfloors.com should get you through the project.

Thanks again Twelvepole. I will most likely do it myself. I was curious what I would be saving. On the issue of the damn popcorn ceiling craping and chipping...etc, I think I decided to simply cover it up w. like 6 sheets of sheetrock and then tape/mud myself. I did this over the popcorn WALL (yes, I said wall as in 1 wall only...damn rental people) in the baby room and it came out great. I will just need longer screws and some patience. Peace: e3

I'm glad you decided to cover the popcorn. All that scraping and the mess and the time involved! You can probably cover and mud the ceiling in less time. That's my personal opinion, anyway. Folks apply popcorn to hide imperfections in ceilings and to avoid the work of achieving a smooth, sanded surface. The rental I live in has popcorn.

Popcorn ceilings are nearly impossible to clean. They have to be painted with oil-based paint because water-based dissolves the popcorn. We have had many posts on the forums inquiring how to remove popcorn, patch it, clean it, and paint it. Conclusion: popcorn is a pain!

The sanding and finishing can run you anywhere from $2-3/sqft.
If you want the floor stained as in your earlier post this is where you could get into some money.If you must do it yourself do your self a favor and by a sheet of 3/4 in plywood to practice on with the drum sander before you attempt to use it on the floor. Get a really good feel for the machine You can do some real damage in a hurry.. Good luck with your project.

Philly

I am in the process of installing new white oak thru the entire back of my house. For sanding. I rented a square pad sander from Home Depot. It was very easy to use. You almost could NOT screw up your floor with it. Just have to vacumn frequently to prevent small swirl marks caused by debris. The dust was very low due to an internal vacumn and a clever dust catcher which mounts to the base. The grits go down to 20 which should strip just about anything.
I used Minwax oil based Natural stain. Looks beautiful. Will be applying water based Varathane for finish.

David: Thanks for the idea. I am not sure what the wood is I have down already. From pictures I have seen, it appears to be either a white or red oak. Any way to tell for sure?

Also, as you go along, can you send some pics of your flooring with the white oak, stain and varathane? I am curious how it looks.

I am going to be doing the walls in a soft yellow and I think a bold dark floor with a brilliant shine would look great.

Peace: e3 - spamman

spamman,
To figure out what wood you have I would recommend going to the Home Depot Flooring guy and ask to see samples of pre-finished wood as well as unfinished scraps. This is the best way I know of to look at various woods and get a feel for what is your best match. I actually took some of the finished samples home to compare to what was on my floor and make a decision on what to buy. Most wood floors are white oak, and if the floor is light it is likely white oak, but there are lots of other wood types out there.
When I was laying the new white oak my wife really liked the light look but I had to match what is already down. The old white oak floors have darkened with age. Thus, the Natural stain.
I forgot to mention, I bought a new PortaNails 401 manual nailer on-line at Amazon.com to put down the wood. It is a great tool and easy to use.

We just had our floors sanded and refinished ( No staining ). We live in Connecticut and they have a minimum charge of $375 for 250 square feet. In other words, you pay $375 for anything 0 to 250 square feet. Since the room we wanted done was only 110 square feet we decided to rip up the ugly carpet in the dining room (120 sq ft) and have it done at the same time. Good decision! We now have two beautiful floors for the same price and the Brady Bunch dining room with the green carpet and green and yellow striped wallpaper is just a horrible, distant memory.

Red oak has a 'pinkish' hue. White oak has a light honey brown hue, perhaps with some boards having a greenish tinge.